A biliteracy agenda for genre research

Most research on the development of genre knowledge has focused on genre learning in either a first language (L1) or a second language (L2). This paper highlights the potential of a biliteracy perspective on genre research that combines insights from literacy and bilingualism in order to examine how multilingual writers develop and use genre expertise in more than one language. From a theoretical point of view, the theorization of genre and genre knowledge in composition studies has developed relatively independently from the theorization of language and language proficiency in second language studies. It is argued that conceptually untangling the interrelated nature of genre, writing, and language expertise is a prerequisite for understanding multilingual genre learning. Research on genre learning and genre variation across languages and within multilingual communities is then reviewed to shed further light on the interrelationship between genre and language knowledge empirically. Pedagogical implications for better addressing the needs of multilingual writers are suggested.

Research highlights▶ This paper highlights the potential of a biliteracy perspective on genre research. ▶ It interrelates genre, writing, and language expertise theoretically/empirically. ▶ Components of genre knowledge can transfer crosslinguistically. ▶ Bilingual genre instruction should consider underdeveloped/transferable components. ▶ Languages may not determine but rather index genre preferences.